Features

In 1996, I attended Harvard’s Program on Negotiation to learn, for the first time, about interest-based negotiation. I was privileged to study under the legendary Professor Roger Fisher, co-author, along with Wiliam Ury, of Getting to Yes. Having spent many years being educated in and practisi

Laura Sefton highlights the challenges facing the housing sector over the decarbonisation of heat from buildings, explains why we’re seeing an evolving regulatory environment and examines the legal and regulatory implications of these changes. Scotland’s policy and legislative landscape

The UK’s largest pension funds have pledged to invest at least 10 per cent of their assets in private markets by 2030, but managing investment and fiduciary risk will continue to be a delicate balance under a new accord, write Tom Barton and Katie Ivens. Seventeen workplace pension providers h

Death scholarship is well-established. Dr Molly Conisbee, a visiting fellow at the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath, has studied many aspects of death and mourning. As this is a ‘people’s history’, the study has excluded intentionally the monumental death cere

The repeal of the majority ownership provisions were perhaps the most significant aspect of the new regulation bill, writes Brian Inkster. On 20 May, the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament. That day, the Law Society of Scotland issued a press release h

The Scottish Parliament is currently scrutinising a bill that would bring about significant changes to the law on ending commercial leases in Scotland. This will be of significant interest to both landlords and tenants in Scotland, writes Kieran Buxton. At present, if a party wants a lease to end on

The growing popularity of self-builds and owner-managed conversions and renovations, perhaps fuelled by the popularity of Grand Designs and other such programmes, puts an additional potential responsibility on conveyancers when acting for purchasers of such properties and this is becoming a growing

A string of prosecutions in the UK should spur UK manufacturers to take action to meet their legal obligations to address health risks arising from dust, writes Charlotte O’Kane. In the last year, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecutions have resulted in cases in which businesses - and,

Lewis and Harris, or Lewis with Harris, are one – a Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, around 24 miles from the Scottish mainland. With an area of 841 square miles it is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British Isles, after Great Britain and Ireland.

Last week’s Programme for Government marked one year as first minister for John Swinney and also fell exactly one year until voters go to the polls in arguably one of the most important Scottish elections since devolution, writes Scott Wright. The programme was brought forward by the first min

Katrina Ashbolt wouldn’t live or work anywhere but the Highlands. Growing up in Elgin, she always knew that she wanted to become a lawyer, having become hooked on courtroom dramas like LA Law from an early age. But, after leaving home to study in Aberdeen, she quickly realised that she wanted

Turning Point: The Vietnam War, NetflixThe new five-part documentary series on the Vietnam war, now available on Netflix, charts the course of the war and skilfully explores how the Vietnam debacle has weakened American democracy and continues to do so. It may lack the subtlety and incredible show-d

Hostilities ended in Europe 80 years ago today on 8 May 1945. This was commemorated as Victory in Europe Day (VE). Along with everyone else, the legal profession in Scotland was impacted by the deaths of a number of its members. To remember those who died, the WS Society compiled a list of their mem

The EU’s sweeping reform of product liability law contrasts sharply with the UK’s more tentative approach, write Paola Sproul and Mark Gibson. The EU and the UK are undergoing significant overhauls of their product liability regimes, primarily driven by the need to address challenges pos

It is a curious fact, strange but true, that the best books on Spain are written by foreigners. It is impossible to think of Andalucía without Irish writer Gerald Brenan springing to mind. The lives and careers of the poet Lorca and film-maker Buñuel are likewise synonymous with anothe